Microsoft has announced that it is going to allow app developers to publish to the Microsoft Store without having to pay.

The company says that by removing a friction point of requiring a credit card, it is “creating a more inclusive and accessible platform”. More than just taking away registration fees, Microsoft is also offering free hosting, free signing and automatic updates for MSIX packages.

Continue reading →

Artificial intelligence is finding its way into more and more areas of our lives. But while there are concerns around the use of the technology itself, there are much greater ones over how we secure it.

We spoke to Anand Kashyap, CEO and founder of Fortanix, to discuss confidential computing, a technology backed by Microsoft, Intel, Arm, AMD and Nvidia, which encrypts data while it's being processed, even by AI systems.

Continue reading →

Fans of debloating Windows now have another tool to experiment with. NTDEV, the developer behind the well known Tiny11 project, has created Nano11 Builder, a PowerShell script that hacks Microsoft’s operating system down even further.

While Tiny11 already produced a lighter and more flexible alternative to the full-fat Windows 11 install, Nano11 takes things to the extreme by automating the creation of an installer image that is a fraction of the original size.

Continue reading →

Apple’s newly announced, soon to launch, AirPods Pro 3 have been greeted enthusiastically by a crowd prone to enthusiastically greeting Apple products. Even before they are available to buy, praise has been heaped upon the latest incarnation of the iPhone maker’s wireless earbuds – but it is not all good news.

While the proclaimed audio quality is laudable, while the new features sound impressive, there are definitely issues with the AirPods Pro 3. And, no, we’re not talking about the price.

Continue reading →

Workers are increasingly using shadow AI to draft emails, analyze data, or summarize meetings, but are pretending they haven’t.

New data from marketing agency OutreachX finds 52 percent of US workers are worried about how AI will be used in their workplace in the future and that 48 percent of desk workers say they would be uncomfortable telling a manager they used AI for common tasks.

Continue reading →

A new study from Liquid Web shows IT professionals spend an average of 77 minutes per day checking dashboards, which equals about 468 hours per year or nearly 20 full workdays.

This is leading to stress and a risk of burnout as one in three say they can’t relax unless they check their server dashboard at least once an hour. 51 percent say they check dashboards during the night, at weekends, or on vacations, blurring the line between work and personal time.

Continue reading →

Global influencer marketing spend is forecast to reach $32.5 billion in 2025, with much of the new growth coming from AI influencers, according to a new case study by UNmiss.

From polished AI Instagram avatars to TikTok personalities who never sleep, brands are increasingly testing whether audiences care if creators are real or virtual.

Continue reading →

The Information Commissioner's Office, the UK’s independent regulator for data protection and information rights, says more than half of cyber attacks and data breaches in schools and colleges in the past three years were carried out by pupils.

Of the 215 hacks and breaches in educational establishments investigated by the ICO in that period, 57 percent of them were perpetrated by students.

Continue reading →

A new survey of 2,000 UK consumers shows that 64 percent agree the Online Safety Act protects children, with support higher among parents of young children and lower among ‘empty nest’ parents.

However, the data from verification and anti-fraud platform Sumsub also shows 48 percent concerned it will lead to censorship.

Continue reading →

There are many reasons to love Spotify, and just as many to dislike it. One of its many failings has been the fact that audio quality has been – to be diplomatic – less than perfect.

Now, thanks to the long-awaited arrival of lossless audio, this is finally changing. The ability to hear tracks at the best possible quality is something that will be celebrated by Spotify users... but not everyone.

Continue reading →

The rollout of Windows 11 25H2 is now underway – at least to anyone signed up for the Windows Insider Release Preview channel. When the rollout started, there was disappointment when Microsoft did not have the ISOs for the build ready, saying that they would be coming soon.

But now the company has released the Windows 11 25H2 ISOs which is great news for anyone who likes to keep an offline. It is also extremely useful for people looking to install Windows 11 25H2 on multiple machines – ISOs just make things easier.

Continue reading →

F-Secure has released new research that suggests a troubling divide between how safe people believe they are online and the dangers they actually face.

The Digital Perception-Reality Gap Report, based on a survey of 9,000 consumers worldwide, suggests that misplaced confidence is leaving large numbers of internet users exposed to cyber crime.

Continue reading →

Helpdesks are bogged down by repetitive, time-consuming tasks (34 percent), long resolution times (34 percent) and limited resources (31 percent).

This is among the findings of the latest digital employee experience (DEX) report from Ivanti. It shows that while many businesses are automating certain operations, like security patch management (72 percent) and IT ticket routing (67 percent), but nearly 40 percent still haven't automated password resets -- missing an easy win that could eliminate countless routine support tickets.

Continue reading →

We know that the UK’s Online Safety Act has had a number of consequences including a surge in interest in the use of VPNs. But VPNs aren’t the only things that have seen greater interest.

New research from Comparitech shows more people are searching for fake IDs, how to access the dark web, and torrenting services. The company has recorded a 56 percent increase in impressions for blog posts related to the law and guides to using VPNs as a means of accessing restricted content.

Continue reading →

A new survey from ABBYY highlights the hurdles businesses face when adopting generative AI, revealing that many companies need additional AI tools to get the results they want. The report, State of Intelligent Automation: GenAI Disillusionment and AI Wishlist, points to training, integration and governance as major sticking points.

The research, carried out by Opinium, shows that 31 percent of business leaders find training models more difficult than expected. Another 28 percent say GenAI tools are hard to integrate, while 26 percent cite governance problems. Misuse by staff was flagged by 21 percent of respondents, suggesting that some deployments lack proper oversight.

Continue reading →